Increased vigilance about head hits has been a laudable mission in hockey.

Jon KalinskiHERSHEY BEARS

That vigilance bit the Hershey Bears Friday night at Giant Center in a 3-2 loss to the Lake Erie Monsters.

A major penalty and game misconduct assessed to Bears centerman Jon Kalinski for elbowing Lake Erie's Stefan Elliott 2:03 into the third period paved the way for a Mike Sgarbossa 5-on-3 power play goal that would stand as the game-winner.

Kalinski left his feet and appeared to make glancing contact with Elliott's head. The judgment call was whether it merited a major or minor penalty.

Referee Tim Mayer consulted with Bears head coach Mark French at the Hershey bench after the call was made.

“He told me that Jon left his feet and there was direct contact of Jon's elbow to the player's head,” French said. “From my view from the bench, Jon did leave his feet. So, in my mind, I thought a two-minute charge.

“I did not see an elbow to the head, but I haven't looked at it on video. If there was, those hits need to be taken out of hockey and probably deserved a five. But it remains to be seen if there was an elbow to the head.”

Kalinski's major came with Hershey's Jeff Taffe already serving a minor, giving Lake Erie a 5-on-3 lasting 1:40. AHL all-star Sgarbossa, who also had two assists, scored at 2:32 to produce a 3-1 Lake Erie lead.

Bears winger Boyd Kane took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty immediately after Sgarbossa's score to complete a run of six straight Lake Erie power plays.

AHL all-star Andrew Agozzino gave Lake Erie a 2-1 lead with a virtual 5-on-3 tally at 14:05 of the second, scoring on goalie Philipp Grubauer (20 saves) two seconds after a two-man advantage expired.

“When you play special teams all night, it takes a lot of guys out of the game. It's a lot of minutes for some guys and none for the other guys.”

Kane (power play) and Lake Erie's Bill Thomas traded first-period goals, and Hershey's Jeff Taffe added a power play goal late in the third to draw Hershey within one. Hershey got the first four power plays of the game.

“I think, ultimately, the game came down to composure and discipline,” French said.

“It's steam, energy, that you'd like to put towards trying to get the tying goal. So not only do you lose time, you're expending energy on the wrong thing [penalty killing].”

The defeat dropped Hershey to 0-14-0-0 in games it has trailed after two periods.

“You can look at every team in the league, probably, their numbers are pretty close,” Kane said. “You look at teams' numbers when they lead after two, what their record is, it's pretty good. Yeah, we've got to put more of a push and come back, but I don't think that's a stat we really look at and worry about.”

The Bears now turn their attention to Sunday's Capital BlueCross AHL Outdoor Classic at Hersheypark Stadium against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

“This is a game we really needed to win to get back on a good streak here at home,” said Taffe, who returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower body injury. “But I think guys will put it behind us tonight and move on for this outdoor game. A lot of excitement in the town, so I think it will be fun to see [the alumni game] tomorrow.”